About Speak Up
Our Mission
The mission of the Speak Up class is to empower and equip individuals with disabilities to learn effective ways to self-advocate for the life they want. The Person Driven Plan is a tool meant to aid in communicating personal goals and preferences in order to lead a fulfilling and self-driven life.
We seek to offer an accessible environment that is rooted in our carefully designed curriculum Beyond the content presented, the ultimate outcome of this course is the resulting Person Driven Plan that becomes a useful, tangible tool for participants to utilize in a variety of instances in order to more effectively self-advocate.
Contributors
Ashley Mabry
Ashley is a recent UCCS graduate receiving her Comprehensive Higher Education Certificate in Advocacy and Human Services. Ashley was an active participant in the first Speak Up class. She contributed to the creation of the curriculum and offered insightful critique of each class. Ashley is a SARTAC fellow. Her work can be found here.
Nick Harmon
Nick Harmon is a recent UCCS graduate receiving his Comprehensive Higher Education Certificate in Photojournalism. Nick participated in the creation and review of the Speak Up curriculum and was among the first group of self advocates to learn to create and lead his own Person Driven Plan. You can find Nick’s photography here.
Caitlin Ray
Caitlin Ray is a recent UCCS graduate and received her Comprehensive Higher Education Certificate in Inclusive Early Childhood Education. Caitlin participated in the Advisory Group for the Speak Up curriculum and also reviewed and gave feedback on the curriculum. Caitlin has accepted her first job at a local preschool and is excitedly preparing lessons for her first group of students.
Christi Kasa, Ph.D.
Christi Kasa, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor for the Department of Teaching and Learning and the Director of the Office of Inclusive Services at the University of Colorado. Christi spends her days working to create successful inclusive schools and communities for all students.
Christi is committed to working alongside people with disabilities and learning from their experiences. This curriculum is a direct result of that commitment and will continue to evolve based on the input from the disability community. Christi engaged in working together with others to create a learning experience that would allow for a close look at how the disability rights movement and disability pride can be the foundation to seeing ones place in the world. In addition close work on self discovery and valuing ones own voice led to the construction of the Person Driven Plan as a tool to communicate personal passion and ones own path.
Creative Contributors
Kerrie Joy
Kerrie Joy is an artist, educator, entrepreneur, and organizer. Her magic has brought her to stages such as the Red Rocks Amphitheater, TEDx MileHigh, the 2018 Denver Womxn's March and many more. Kerrie channels her creativity through poetry, hip hop, song, short story, graphic design, and fashion and has partnered with organizations such as Project VOYCE, Tennyson Center for Children, Warm Cookies of the Revolution, Bro. Jeff's Cultural Center, and more, where she serves as a facilitator of ideas through creative delivery, teaching her students about the political framework within the arts and how it can be used to build collective power.
Kerrie contributed to this project by teaching students about their innate power through poetry exercises, historic & socioemotional analysis of the arts, and how creativity has always connected individuals to their potential. She learned, from the students, about the world they wanted to create, a world where justice is realized, and she guided them to channel their collective strength to begin building it.
Jonathan Martin
Jonathan Martin is the owner of Black Sock Productions— a video production company. What started out as a college kid making videos as a fun way to pass the time quickly turned into a full-time gig for this entrepreneur. His ambition has awarded him the opportunity to direct music videos, weddings, documentaries, films and different corporate work.
Jonathan contributed to this project by capturing classes and producing videos for the curriculum. While he would tell you he is a storyteller at heart, he took pride in producing videos that used stories of powerful people to educate powerful students.
Lauren McKenzie
Lauren McKenzie is the owner of REN Creativ, a creative design agency based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lauren was recently named the 2021 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the BBB and the SBDC, the prestigious Designer of the Year in 2020 by the American Advertising Federation, and was nominated for the Mayor’s Young Leader award in 2020. Her award winning work can be found across the Pikes Peak Region small business community.
Lauren’s development of recognizable brands for local businesses and organizations fuels their economic success, benefiting not only entrepreneurs but the Colorado Springs community as a whole. She pairs original graphic design work with web design, social media, and photography, so each client gets the most out of her services.
Lauren contributed to this project by creating the eye catching branding for “Speak Up” as well as producing the printed and digital curriculum designs and the very website you are visiting. This project was very near and dear to Lauren’s heart, the importance of empowering individuals to take ownership in the plans for their future is something she will always continue to advocate for.
